Left tackle Orlando Pace continues to work toward another comeback after missing virtually all of the 2007 season because of a torn labrum.

Pace played in just 10 games in 2006 after suffering a torn triceps, and worked hard to be back on the field for the '07 season. However, in the first half of the season opener against Carolina, he went to the sideline again. It took a while to get over the reality that another season had been lost.

"The triceps was tough, but when I did the shoulder, it was one of the toughest things I've had to handle, not only in my professional career but in my life," he said. "I was so excited about coming back and playing last year ... and I couldn't even make it through one game. It was so disappointing. It took me awhile to get over it mentally."

The Rams hold their mandatory minicamp this weekend (May 9-11), and Pace is expected to do little. However, all signs point to him being ready to go all out when training camp begins at the end of July.

"It feels pretty good," Pace said recently. "When it first started, it was a slow process. But now it's a matter of lifting weights and getting it strong again, getting it back up to where I was.

"Once I get the strength back up, the contact ... is easy to come back."

Pace knows the importance of him being back, as well as being able to have continuity on the line. He, left guard Mark Setterstrom and right guard Richie Incognito missed a total of 40 games last season.

"I'd never seen anything like that," he said. "Every week it seemed like somebody was going down and we were on the waiver wire, getting guys to come in, guys off the street. That made it tough for us.

"As a group, you have to have guys that have played together ... at least know the first and last name of the guy that's playing next to you."

After missing 21 games the last two seasons, the 32-year-old Pace is eager to be on the field again.

"I just want to play," Pace said. "Sometimes late in their career, guys get to the point where you kind of take this game for granted a little bit. (However, the injuries have) reignited a new type of hunger and motivation for me. I just want to go out, play and be a part of the team again."

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